Summer 2012 Ends Weak: ‘The Possession’ Takes #1 For $21.3M Labor Day Weekend, ‘Lawless’ #2 With $15.1M; Anti-Obama Documentary Now 5th Biggest; ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Past $1 Billion, ‘Avengers’ $1.5B

COMMENTS (73)

• That’s half what Timothy Green did, why are they pretending that is a good Wednesday gross?

  Comment by Reality Check — Thursday August 30, 2012 @ 6:46am PDT  Reply to this post

• Timothy Green is a children’s Disney movie. Find a better comparison.

  Comment by Anon — Thursday August 30, 2012 @ 7:13am PDT  Reply to this post

  • I’m wondering if “Timothy Green” was supposed to be compared to “Oogieloves.”

    “Green” looks like a more successful film in terms of broader appeal to children and adults. It was aimed at a family audience, while “Oogieloves” was aimed mainly at younger children. The ladder should be better off as a PBS program, where it can have success.

    Comment by MovieFan — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 2:57pm PDT  Reply to this post

    • I assume you meant “latter”.

      Comment by Anonymous — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 3:16pm PDT  Reply to this post

      • Everyone assumed the poster meant “latter,” so what’s your point?

        Comment by Walter — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 5:39pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I’m really torn with this movie. On one hand, as an australian, I really want it to do well. On the other hand…I really hate Shia…

  Comment by Mrsmith — Thursday August 30, 2012 @ 8:14am PDT  Reply to this post

  • Shia is an everyman in the USA in the year 2012. I live near Columbia University in New York. Every day I see 20 guys that look like him. This may be a key to his popularity.

    Comment by Harry Bent — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 6:42am PDT  Reply to this post

    • People who live in NYC are not necessarily indicative of the everyman in USA.

      Comment by Justin Poppiti, Esq. — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 9:59am PDT  Reply to this post

      • Ha ha! Agreed Justin, particularly people that “live near Columbia”! Live in a bubble much?

        Comment by Anonymous — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 3:17pm PDT  Reply to this post

    • Everyman is an unrealistic term. Shia is an action star who is in his 20′s, which makes him different from all the 30+, or 40+, or 60+ action stars who have produced the majority of action films the last few years. I would argue that he has some boyish characteristics that aren’t prominent in the genre, which makes him a monopolist of sorts.

      Comment by S4H1 — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 3:12pm PDT  Reply to this post

      • It seems at one point he was being groomed to be the next Tom Hanks, which made sense. Then he makes this action turn in the Transformers movies – in which he’s a supporting player to the special effects – and suddenly we’re supposed to buy him as an action star? Never going to happen. I’m not sure he’ll ever pull off leading man status at this point…

        Comment by alexinwonderland — Monday September 3, 2012 @ 10:14am PDT  Reply to this post

    • I happen to live near Columbia University in NYC but if I saw even one person who looked like Shia, I’d move to Jersey. Seriously, year after year I keep waiting for Hollywood to wake up and discover the multi-talented Derek Hough of the otherwise negligible “Dancing with the Stars”. Instead, the Hollywood honchos persist in shoving this no-talent cretin in our faces. And now, the moron is threatening to perform hardcore sex in his next opus. I’ll pass. Where is Louis B. Mayer when we need him?

      Comment by Scott MacDonough — Monday September 3, 2012 @ 2:21pm PDT  Reply to this post

      • hahaha Derek Hough. Oh you be trolling us.

        Comment by lol — Monday September 3, 2012 @ 5:29pm PDT  Reply to this post

• only children are going to show up to see Shia pretending to be a man

  pic is also way off in its “cops are crooked, thugs have hearts of gold” theme, crime is rising and this is NOT the general mood in Americans, who are seeing police forces cut back while life gets more dangerous

  country is ripe for another Dirty Harry/Death Wish, question is will the people running Hollywood ever figure it out from their gated communities and servant-attended homes?

  Comment by Shia can't jump — Thursday August 30, 2012 @ 8:29am PDT  Reply to this post

• Timothy Green, as a recent Wednesday opener, is a fine comparison. Genre ain’t everything.

  Comparing it to Timothy Green and Hit and Run, last week’s Wednesday opener, Lawless falls between them. So, between underwhelming and disastrous, and much closer to disastrous. Those two films were 7th and 10th in their respective weekends, so Lawless’s eventual top 5 finish is just a testament to how pathetic Labor Day Weekend is.

  At this point, it’s safe to say that The Possession will run away with the weekend unless the prints get lost on the way to the cinemas.

  Comment by Banjoman — Thursday August 30, 2012 @ 8:30am PDT  Reply to this post

  • The Possession a PG-13 horror (bread and butter of movie studios like Lionsgate) with a more well known director isn’t doing great. This summer had so many movies like Prometheus, Snow White and the Huntsman, Battleship, and Dark Shadows that didn’t perform well given their bloated budgets. The real winners are small and mid budget movies like Ted and Magic Mike. We could use more like them.

    Comment by W — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 12:02am PDT  Reply to this post

• Banjoman, you must be possessed if you think that sad attempt at horror will win the weekend

  Comment by mr marquee — Thursday August 30, 2012 @ 9:38am PDT  Reply to this post

  • But how could it not? Lawless clearly won’t compete. 2016 is expanding again but its momentum can’t continue to build forever. The closest thing to a challenger would be the third weekend of Expendables 2, and even given a very, very modest drop, it won’t crack $11 million in four days. That’s a low bar for a possession movie to clear. The Devil Inside, Insidious, The Rite, and The Last Exorcism all opened bigger than that in three days. Sure, The Possession looks terrible, but that doesn’t matter much in this subgenre.

    Comment by Banjoman — Thursday August 30, 2012 @ 10:56am PDT  Reply to this post

  • Wow. How’s that sandwich taste, Mr. Marquee?

    Comment by T — Sunday September 2, 2012 @ 1:39pm PDT  Reply to this post

• this film cannot be good. the tell-tale sign will be its friday – monday gross. which will probably be around 6M. which is not good. from “this means war” to “lawless” tom hardy seems to be good at picking clunkters.

  Comment by dudette — Thursday August 30, 2012 @ 10:13am PDT  Reply to this post

  • You seemed to have missed a little movie between those two.

    Comment by Bane Of Your Existence — Thursday August 30, 2012 @ 12:32pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Would have been better without Shia, and I’m not a hater of his. Every other character was infinitely more fascinating to watch and had a better actor portraying them. The film focuses too much on Shia when Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce, and the lovely Jessica Chastain are clearly the stars of the show. Watching Shia try to hold his own in scenes with these people is like watching a lamb in a lion’s den: a slaughter.

  Comment by Cameron — Thursday August 30, 2012 @ 2:00pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Not a bad result for Lawless, a film with hardly any A-List celebrities unlike The Expendables (LaBeouf, Chastain, Hardy, Oldman, Wasikowska vs the elite team of Stallone, Statham, Norris, Li, Willis, Schwarzenegger etc).

  Comment by jez — Thursday August 30, 2012 @ 2:31pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • “A-list” in 2012?

    Comment by ILDC — Thursday August 30, 2012 @ 7:08pm PDT  Reply to this post

    • I admit the term A-List is questionable at very best. But in a world when would be A-List stars are featuring in flops, Stallone I beleive is one of the few movie stars that can open movies in his own right as apposed to being based on a pre established source material.

      Comment by jez — Friday August 31, 2012 @ 11:55am PDT  Reply to this post

• I haven’t forgotten about how TWC handled John Hillcoat’s last movie, and the results.

  Comment by ILDC — Thursday August 30, 2012 @ 2:34pm PDT  Reply to this post

• This movie was silly fun and full of cliches, but Tom Hardy is – Lord Have Mercy. My girlfriend and I would sit up in our chairs when he was in a scene and sort of lose interest and sink back down when he wasn’t (not that the other actors were bad, they were ok).

  Rare to see such a masculine white man in Hollywood. Where’d they discover him?

  Comment by Anon — Friday August 31, 2012 @ 3:09am PDT  Reply to this post

  • “Rare to see such a masculine white man in Hollywood.”

    Anon,are you serious? All Hollywood ever gives us is macho white male posturing. Spare me the fake victimhood. Go see a Bond movie or that Expendables dreck and quit whining.

    Comment by poor white guys my a** — Sunday September 2, 2012 @ 10:03pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I think this is a rather fitting valediction: Poor films to conclude a summer of poor films. I guess it wasn’t quite as appalling as last summer, but there weren’t too many stand-outs at the multiplex this season. This afternoon, I bypassed all the studio fare and went to see Celeste and Jesse Forever. I thought it was pretty good, better than some critics have suggested it to be.

  I’ll probably see Lawless, just to spend some time with my love, Jessica Chastain. Everything else is a miss, of course, although I have heard Oogieloves is about to break some records.

  Comment by Dack Rouleau — Friday August 31, 2012 @ 8:55pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • The most exciting box office story this week isn’t whether The Possession will open at #1, it’s not whether Obama’s America will hit the top 5, it’s how low will Oogieloves open. It legitimately sounds like it’ll be a real contender for Delgo’s worst opening in 2000+ theaters record, which is hilarious.

    So much for “the marketing visionary behind Teletubbies”, right?

    Comment by Vance Rosen — Friday August 31, 2012 @ 11:36pm PDT  Reply to this post

    • You obviously haven’t been following the tracking data. Last night, it was almost impossible to find a seat; I had to defer my ticket until one of the late-night shows, added last-minute to accomodate such demand. There’s already some heated discussion on the IMDb boards about whether the film would have broken records had it been released in 3D. In any case, it’s a pretty historic performance for Oogieloves.

      Comment by Dack Rouleau — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 7:25am PDT  Reply to this post

      • What are you smoking? Following the tracking? There’s nothing to follow because it isn’t tracking. The only big balloon the Oogieloves are going to find is the big balloon of debt they’ll be left with. Visionary my a**.

        Comment by Truthman — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 9:42pm PDT  Reply to this post

      • Hey Kenn Viselman…uh, I mean Dack Rouleau, how about that $217 per-theater average for Oogieloves’ first weekend? Sounds like they’re selling out seats left and right.

        Comment by Vance Rosen — Sunday September 2, 2012 @ 11:05am PDT  Reply to this post

        • I hate to be a burden, but there’s this wonderfully inventive tool called sarcasm.

          Comment by Dartboard — Sunday September 2, 2012 @ 11:18am PDT  

    • “Oogieloves” skews very young, so it isn’t playing after 7 PM in most theaters.

      “The Avengers” is the back half of Disney’s annual Labor Day re-release. “Brave” is showing during the day and the Marvel movie at night.

      Comment by Chucky — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 7:48am PDT  Reply to this post

• The horror flick will win. The fact that it looks like the year’s worst film, DEVIL INSIDE(*You know, the one that ended with a climactic plug for its own FB page?) should hurt it, but won’t.

  Comment by Scottish Bane — Friday August 31, 2012 @ 9:47pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Nick Cave can do no wrong!!

  Comment by Hong Kong Fo-we-Nintendo — Friday August 31, 2012 @ 10:41pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Lawless is great, Hardy is PHENOMENAL unintentionally stealing what was once Shia’s movie, who btw is better than he has ever been because he’s playing what he is, an insecure terrified wimp. (best stuff J Gylenhall does too)

  in regards to getting the morals wrong you need to take a good look at the negative effects prohibition had and who the real victims and villains were. It’s not unlike the disastrous handling of the war on drugs today.
  Great film.

  Comment by lawless — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 12:44am PDT  Reply to this post

  • WHY are some people so down on young Shia L?

    He’s talented and quirky and attractive, with a unique, special quality. Hollywood is full of bland actors but how many guys like him? As far as Tom Hardy – they are very different actors playing very different characters, and they both played their parts well.

    To be fair, now that I’m thinking about it, in this film Hardy was supposed to capture your attention and make you notice when he came into a scene. Shia L wasn’t playing the masculine/tough lead.

    Comment by Anon — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 5:47am PDT  Reply to this post

    • He’s full of himself and he’s a poser. I thought he was charming, quirky and talented a few years ago, but all he’s done since then is mouth off and act like a douche. This kids star is fading fast.

      Comment by neil — Sunday September 2, 2012 @ 12:47am PDT  Reply to this post

  • I think you are confusing the characters with the actors who play them. Shia’s character, Jack, is supposed to be whimpy and naive. Tom’s character, Forrest, is supposed to be this larger-than-life presence since that is how Jack (and the reader/viewer) sees him. Forrest is projected through the eyes of an admiring brother.

    Full disclosure: I am seeing “Lawless” tomorrow, but I read “The Wettest County in the World”. In the book, Forrest commanded your attention in every scene, and you really wanted Jack to grow a pair. So, it seems like the actors are playing their parts perfectly!

    Comment by Karen K — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 10:22am PDT  Reply to this post

    • this seems to be what “lawless” is saying. The actors fit the roles perfectly. Having seen it myself, i must say Hardy is much more memorable than Shia who it honestly does seem as the narrator and character that changes the most was the protagonist. Glad shia he’s picking fitting, interesting roles.

      Comment by hillybilly — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 9:26pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I cant help but wonder if Rocky Mountain Pics was expecting an increase from last weekend and not just an on par to last week…..doubt itll increase anymore after this weekend.

  Comment by Jon — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 12:49pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Dear Hollywood,

  Get a Grip. – Did you forget 10% of your customers are unemployed or underemployed and the other 80% wishing the price of food, fuel, rent, and clothes would drop just a little so they can afford a ticket. It doesn’t take much to figure out why numbers are low. I love going to the movies, but no way am I going to pay $10 a ticket for a lousy movie. Maybe $5 or $6 or Maybe $10 for a double feature. You guys have become addicted to your high saleries meanwhile gas is $4.00 a gal – I guess no movie tonight.

  Comment by 4juices — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 2:12pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • I have to agree that the movies have been so bad this summer, we hardly went to the theater. I saw 2 films during the May to July months, the biggest grossing film of the summer, Avengers, and the one I saw with the kids, Madagascar 3. And hadn’t gone back until Wednesday, when we went to see Expendables 2. We went to a 2pm show and it was only $5.00. So, the theaters are doing what they can to get butts in seats given the sad state of Hollywood films at the moment. Most theaters have discounts running through the weekdays and of course there were so many flops this summer that alot of the movies at the $1.50 theater were fairly recent releases. In other words, you can see new films cheaply if you just check out the theaters in your area. Our pet peeve- we don’t like sitting through a 2+ hour marathon movie, especially if it is idiotic and boring regardless of how cheap it is. Most movies released this year are too long and that turns me off before I even contemplate buying a ticket.

    Comment by charlie — Sunday September 2, 2012 @ 2:51am PDT  Reply to this post

• The box office would be more successful if California got fiscal act together, the high debt to GDP ratio is unsustainable and has resorted to Hollywood to ask for more money per ticket to reinforce their grossly over inflated standard of living. It’s also one of the reasons why ticket prices have risen to as much as $20 in liberal cities such as New York where the state deficit continues to skyrocket. A high debt to GDP on a state and Federal level have resulted in devaluation of the dollar and also attributed to higher ticket prices. This is just one example of how the fiscal disposition of a country can adversely influence the outcome of macroeconomic prosperity among individual industries. The less the dollar is worth, the higher ticket prices will become and the less likely individuals will consider going to the movies. The higher the ticket prices become, the worse box office sales will become.

  Comment by Frank — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 3:09pm PDT  Reply to this post

• quit trying to explain away the success of the anti-Obama film “2016.” People are seeing it because they still do not know the man who is in the White House.

  Comment by Paul — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 3:57pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I thought Shia did a fine job playing a young brat trying to grow up fast and stand tall with his brothers. It seems like a perfect role for someone like Shia, and he was believable. I don’t know what more people wanted him to do. Tom Hardy did a fine job as expected but I don’t think he outshone Shia so much. I thought everyone did an equally good job with the roles they had.

  Comment by Brandi — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 5:54pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I was surprised that Lawless didn’t make as much money as expected. People can spin all they want. I think the marketing was terrible, and I don’t recall many interviews anywhere from the cast. Shia is getting attention for talking about everything other then the film. He seemed to be more concerned with promoting his upcoming projects. Tom Hardy is a good supporting actor. I don’t think he has that leading man quality. Regardless of his performance in TDK. You didn’t even see his face.

  I wonder if because of the shooting they didn’t know how to promote it.

  regarding people here always talking about people that are out of work an not able to buy movie tickets.

  look people spend the money they have the way they want. I go out to eat and the places are full. The malls are full. and people are finding money to pay for dance classes and after school sports. Women are getting their hair done and nails. Men are buying their toys and beer. I know we are in a recession, but people are spending money. I think they are just being selective on the movies they will pay to see. I have my favorite stars. I go see their movies opening weekend or opening week. I will be in the theater in October to see my favorite in a film. Other films I weight whether I need to see it in a theater or can I wait for the dvd.

  I don’t think I’m in the minority if that thinking either. there was nothing playing this weekend that I felt I needed to see. It seems a lot of the public felt the same way.

  Comment by dopleganger — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 6:01pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • Agreed. People are still spending money but they’re just being smarter about their purchases. Waiting for clothes to go on sale, waiting a little longer before trading in a car or a house, eating out less, and only buying tickets for movies that look good.

    If there’s any question about whether or not the movie will be enjoyable, most would rather just wait for it to hit Redbox. Hollywood can lower ticket prices and get a less discerning audience, focus on making better movies, or just keep on doing what they’re doing…

    Comment by College Student — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 6:57pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • I agree re: discretionary income. People are being more selective with the money that they have. I live in Oregon, where matinee movies before 6pm are $4, and full price is $6.50. Even with those low prices, I still weigh whether I want to see a film in the theater or wait for the DVD. This is a big change from just a few years ago, when I would go to the movies twice a week. I still love going to the movies, I still eagerly await films by directors I admire and stars that I enjoy. I’m just not interested in spending the money for a movie I know is only middling. Over the last two months I saw “Premium Rush,” “Lawless,” “Bourne Legacy,” “Hope Springs,” “Celeste and Jesse Forever,” and “Jiro Dreams of Sushi.” This month I hope to see “The Master,” “Keep the Lights On” and “Looper.”

    I don’t think the economy is the only reason people aren’t going to the movies. I think the economy is forcing people to think before spending money on entertainment, and Hollywood needs to step up its game.

    Comment by ctkat1 — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 10:47pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Just got back from The Possession and have to say I was pretty impressed. Good to see an adult horror movies with some real scares. They avoided a fair many of The Exorcist cliches and the Jewish angle was fresh. Far better than I was expecting!

  Comment by Remote Patrolled — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 6:41pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Opening ‘Lawless’ this weekend was foolish. Most males would rather go to the season opener for their favorite college football team, or watch the many televised games from home.

  This weak weekend nicely ties together a weak summer. ‘Avengers’ and ‘Dark Knight Returns’ were entertaining blockbusters. No break-out comedies. Forgettable Pixar entry. A few indie films of note… ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ was amusing, and I’ve heard that ‘Exotic Marigold Hotel’ and ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ were good. That said, I can’t see myself going out and buying the DVD for any of these movies. Hopefully some of the prestige films will pick up the slack in a year that has been pretty lackluster for movies.

  Comment by College Student — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 6:54pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • No breakout comedies, for real. Well what the hell do you call ‘Ted’, if that’s not a breakout comedy i don’t know what is. You misculculated a little there my friend.

    Comment by orlando — Sunday September 2, 2012 @ 2:49am PDT  Reply to this post

    • You got me there… I completely forgot about ‘Ted’, though I still maintain that this has been a weak year for movies.

      Comment by College Student — Sunday September 2, 2012 @ 6:31pm PDT  Reply to this post

• So what we’ve learned is that the tea party audience is worth 16.5 million for an opening weekend propaganda pic. Good to know.

  Comment by Truthman — Saturday September 1, 2012 @ 9:45pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Well good riddance Shia LaBeauf’s career in wide released movies. Lawless basically flopped. Well ok – it underperformed. There were too many publicity and too many famous actors in this film. It should have got more money. And Shia can “proudly” say that he choose not to be in big budget movies anymore. But reality is that no one asks him to be there.

  People said that Megan Fox was getting it too harsh while Shia was badmouthing powerful people too. But it got him too. It was just not as public as with Megan. Produces just stopped calling him and asking him to star in their $50+ millions movies. And also there is this fact that Shia has outgrown his teenage charm. He can’t play those funny-loser teenagers that he was basically playing in every film. Now he just looks gross and disgusting most of the time. And add that fact that he is not talented actor and plays the same role in every movies.

  So Shia vanished from big screen. Then he got this role in Lawless and well – it underperformed big time. I guess that is it as “formerly almost A-list” Shia. Remember how big he was during Transformers? And how is is just another Orlando Bloom. Good luck with those straight to DVD movies that no one will see Shia.
  (Sorry for bad English. Not my first language…)

  Comment by Shy — Sunday September 2, 2012 @ 1:44am PDT  Reply to this post

  • Harsh but true.

    Comment by em — Sunday September 2, 2012 @ 5:25am PDT  Reply to this post